Canucks defeat Ducks in OT, extend streak to seven under Boudreau

ANAHEIM -- J.T. Miller scored on a breakaway 26 seconds into overtime and the Vancouver Canucks won their seventh straight game under coach Bruce Boudreau, 2-1 against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center on Wednesday.

Boudreau is 7-0-0 since replacing Travis Green on Dec. 5.
Tanner Pearson scored, and Thatcher Demko made 22 saves for his sixth straight win for Vancouver (15-15-2), which was playing its first game since Dec. 16.
"We are rounding into a more complete game right now," Miller said. "We are finding ways to win. That's a hard game for us to come off a two-week break."
Sam Carrick scored, and John Gibson made 35 saves for Anaheim (17-9-7) in its first game since Dec. 17.
"I think we were all super excited to get back out here," Carrick said. "Everything that's going on, a lot of distractions, so it's nice to just come out and play in front of our fans, especially. It was a long time coming, for sure, it was a long break, but we're happy to be back."

The Ducks had a 3-on-1 break in the early seconds of overtime, but Troy Terry's pass to Rickard Rakell was broken up, leading to the breakaway goal by Miller that ended a five-game losing streak against the Ducks.
"In this building, I have had like no success," Miller said. "Even as a team, we have struggled here, so it's a hard building to play in and it's a character win."
Miller has nine overtime goals in his NHL career and owns a seven-game point streak (three goals, eight assists), one short of his NHL career high.
The Ducks took a 1-0 lead at 16:26 of the first period. Hampus Lindholm and Nicolas Deslauriers each banked the puck off the boards to get it ahead to Carrick, who skated in and scored from in close.
"It was important for everyone to get into the game early," Carrick said. "Whether it was hitting a guy, or getting hit, or just having a good cycle shift down low."

Pearson scored on a one-timer off a feed from Quinn Hughes to tie it 1-1 at 1:21 of the third.
Anaheim started the game with 11 forwards and seven defensemen, which proved important when defenseman Cam Fowler collided with the corner boards with 2:55 left in the first period and sustained an upper-body injury. Coach Dallas Eakins did not have an update after the game.
Gibson stopped Conor Garland on a breakaway at 12:31 of the second period, and made a save on Garland from in close at 7:25 of the third.
"[Gibson] kind of got us the point tonight," Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg said. "They had some really good scoring chances, a couple 2-on-1s where he made some huge saves for us to keep us in the game."
NOTES:Boudreau joined Geoff Ward and Jacques Lemaire as the only NHL coaches to win their first seven games with a new team. Ward won his first seven with the Calgary Flames after replacing Bill Peters on Nov. 29, 2019. Lemaire won his first seven with the New Jersey Devils to start the 1993-94 season. Boudreau also tied Roger Nielson (5-0-2) for most games with at least one point to begin as coach with the Canucks. ... Vancouver played without its leader in goals and points last season when it placed forward Brock Boeser into NHL COVID-19 protocol earlier Wednesday. .... Vancouver came in ranked 32nd in the NHL on the penalty kill at 67.0 percent, but killed all four power plays by the Ducks, who came tied for fourth on the power play at 26.7 percent. ... The Ducks played without rookie center Trevor Zegras, who is second on the team with 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) after he was placed in COVID-19 protocol on Tuesday. .... Ducks defenseman Jacob Larsson was called up from the taxi squad and made his season debut. Larsson did not take a shift in the first period but played 12:56 following Fowler's injury. Anaheim forwards Vinni Lettieri and Buddy Robinson were also recalled from the taxi squad before the game. ... Ducks coach Dallas Eakins was trying for his 100th win as an NHL coach. … The Canucks play at the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday.